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Re: Euro 2008 Thread

Austria deserved to win, respect to them. Croatia was really dissapointing in their win, last 15 minutes of the first half and the whole second half they were so pressed against their own goal that it seemed like they crossed the halfline just a couple of times.

And Germany is just a couple of steps above all these teams in this group, they really got it easy.

Re: Euro 2008 Thread

was a bit disappointed with Poland's performance...thought they would get out and attack Germany a bit more...

I disagree. Going more on the attack would have left there defense even more vulnerable then it looked now. Attacking more would, I think, have meant Poland running into a German knife. I think that Polish goal that was called for off-side should have counted though. The referee's were instructed just before the tournament to not call off-side when they see a very close situation and they can't be 100% sure.

And, yeah, Germany does have it easy with this group and also relatively easy all the way up to the finals, if they get that far, compared to the team that comes up on top in the other leg of the tournament. The only other powerhouses they could face is Portugal and maybe the Chech Republic (who are getting old pretty fast now).
Compare that with Italy, France, Spain, Holland and even Sweden, Romania and the last European Champion, Greece, and you know what I am getting at...

I can's stress enough how lucky Germany and Portugal are and how BADLY the person who thought of this schedule for the tournament should NEVER get a job in something like this again.

Re: Euro 2008 Thread

No, they have 4 pots from where they draw the teams, the teams from the same pot all go to different groups, the problem is the strongest teams have to end up in the same pot the next 4 in another and so on.

Re: Euro 2008 Thread

Holy crap, a Polish supporter has been stabbed to death by another one when they were discussing the (lack of) efficiency of their team. Other bad stuff (riots here and there) has been happening too. I guess the world will never run out of morons or idiots...

Re: Euro 2008 Thread

Guess I'm not the only one who noticed...

"BERNE, Switzerland -- OK, I could have made this point before the tournament, but it's worth making again, because something isn't quite right here. Arrigo Sacchi, who led AC Milan to two European Cups said he'd love to see "Marco and Roberto meet in the final."

He was referring to van Basten and Donadoni, his two former players who have graduated to leading Holland and Italy, respectively. A nice thought, except it can't happen.

Because those two countries are on the same side of the draw. As is France. And Spain. And Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden. And Adrian Mutu's Romania. And Russia, a dark horse. And of course, Greece which, lest we forget, is the defending European champion.

So what's on the other side of the draw? Well, Germany. And Portugal. And Croatia, which could pull off a surprise, I guess. The Czech Republic is always tricky ... and that's about it.

With all due respect, this is about as lopsided a draw as you can get. The whole point of seeding teams is to ensure that the better ones -- the ones people actually want to watch -- don't knock each other out early. And to ensure that teams are rewarded for what they did before.

Yes, some will point out that on the French side of the draw (the good one) there are six teams ranked in FIFA's top 20, while there are five on Germany's side, which isn't much of a difference, is it?

Possibly. Except for the fact that FIFA rankings are silly, unrepresentative mathematical exercises. And, if you're going to play the FIFA ranking game, please tell me in what parallel universe does it make sense to have No. 3 (Italy), No. 7 (France), No. 10 (Holland) and No. 12 (Romania) in the same group?

But the real absurdity is the tournament's structure and the fact that the two sides of the draw are kept apart until the final. Which could mean that, for example, France, which plays Italy on June 17, could end up facing the Italians again a few days later in the semifinal.

Does that make any sense? No. Especially when the strength and depth of the two halves is so lopsided. Use whatever metric you like. The German half has won seven international tournaments (six of them -- three World Cups and three Euros -- courtesy of the Germans). The other half has won 12.

The German half has five players who made the European Footballer of the Year Top 50 in 2007. The other half has 20.

I just hope that, whatever happens, we get a clear-cut winner and that this column is the last thing you have to read about the controversy over the tournament's structure. It would be a real shame if Euro 2008 were ruined by something as avoidable as this.

Re: Euro 2008 Thread

Great game! I thought 3-0 was a bit harsh, but they definitely deserved to win. Holland played great as a team (name one player who didn't play really good - maybe van Nistelrooij), but I've been saying it before: Italy's just not that good. Maybe they missed Cannavaro, though I don't think that would've changed much. The Netherlands were reigning in the midfield. Italy didn't convert their chances, but Holland could've scored (van Nistelrooij) a couple times more as well...I didn't see France's game, I do think they have a stronger team than Italy though. Already looking forward to friday's game...